A new world record price for a camera was reached on Saturday with 2.16 million euros for a unit of the German brand Leica, dating from 1923. The sale, organized by the Galerie Westlicht, held in Vienna.
Only 25 prototypes of the pre-series were manufactured by Leica. Photo credits: LEONHARD FOEGER / REUTERS
Like it or not, a sort of "peer government" is trying to establish in Europe. No national economic policy can now be released from the judgment of its neighbors and European authorities themselves, for better or for worse. While Spain had suffered fire Tuesday in financial markets, with the key rumors of a possible bailout like the programs in place for Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the German Government and the European Central Bank have seen fit to act as surety moral Wednesday, and in almost identical terms.
"Spain has undertaken major reforms in several areas, including finance, labor market and the banking sector," said Johannes Blankenheim in Berlin, the spokesman of the Ministry of Finance. "We regret that the markets have not yet acknowledged the enormous reform efforts," he added.
Almost simultaneously, but in Paris, Benedict Cœuré, one of six members of the ECB executive, developed the same argument. "The new government (in Spanish) has taken strong decisions … What is happening in the markets does not reflect the fundamentals (of the Spanish economy)." And the ECB representative, who attended a conference organized by the AFTE (French Association of Corporate Treasurers), joined the action to the word: "The ECB could intervene? We instrument for this, programs to purchase securities in the market, which has not been used (since February) but can be. "
The situation remains fragile
These words produced an instant effect on the markets. Yields on bonds of the Spanish State, which had peaked at 5.99% on Wednesday morning, retreated to 5.82%. However Italy has seen its borrowing rates harden, and the eight billion shares to twelve months were subscribed at a rate of 2.84% instead of 1.40% during the similar issue launched in March, while its refinancing conditions had steadily improved since the beginning of the year. This is clear proof that "the situation remains fragile … Governments must continue the efforts already made to restore sound fiscal positions and support the long-term growth," added Benedict Cœuré.
The roadmap on which governments will be judged by the markets is twofold equally important: first reductions of deficits and the other structural reforms likely to revive economies. Thus the European Commission Wednesday she said "the very important reform of the labor market" set up by Madrid, having welcomed the measures announced Monday savings in health and education, a total budget of 10 billion euros.
As president of the French Banking Federation and head of Societe Generale, Frederic Oudéa says the same thing: "You have come to show the markets that the trajectories become virtuous, and this requires a number of quarters to show that results are well go, "he said Wednesday on BFM Business antenna.
ALSO READ:
"" The future of Spain is at stake, "said Rajoy
"" French banks are doing their job "
And five! The Prism – which includes 600 companies of all sizes and interim accounts for 90% of turnover in the sector – has released disastrous figures for temporary employment in February. This further decline – the fifth in a row, after years of uninterrupted growth – reached 6.8% last month compared to same month last year. Worse, there is an accelerated decline after a month of January 2012 which showed a decline of 3.9%. In total over the first two months of 2012, the decline already exceeds 5%. Bodes ill for the rest of the year, temporary employment are a leading indicator of general labor market
.
All sectors have plunged last month: -5.2% for temporary staffing industry, -5.4% in services and even -14 guaranteed online payday loans.4% in construction. Again bad news for "when the building goes, everything goes, especially employment," the saying goes … Except for executives and professionals (who posted a 3% increase), all other occupational categories are decline: -6.1% for skilled workers, -9.6% for unskilled and -9.7% for employees, these three categories represent 87.8% in temporary.
Apart from the Midi-Pyrenees (3.2%), all regions have been affected by the contraction in February in temporary. And, sometimes violently. Folds have well exceeded 10% in four regions (Picardy, Ile de France, Champagne-Ardennes and Alsace). About two months, only the Franche-Comte and Limousin combine a double-digit decline.
This is an unprecedented situation in the cozy little world of Parisian palaces. Almost at the same time, the Ritz and the Crillon, two jewels of the luxury hotel, will close for major renovations. The 147 rooms at the Crillon, which belongs to a descendant of the Saudi royal family, will close in the fall for two years make quick cash. Place Vendome, the Ritz (159 rooms), will close, he, on August 1. Its owner, Mohammed al-Fayed, provides 27 months of work.
… others will head to the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome (154 rooms including 42 suites) Photo credits: Irmgard Sigg
The fateful day approaches: that of the arrival of the mobile Free. There is no filter in the individual but it is unclear the troublemaker telecom miss the fruitful period of Christmas, which generates nearly a quarter of handset sales this year.
Technically, the new operator is ready. Its network already exceeds largely 27% coverage, according to industry sources. A threshold that allows it to trigger the negotiated roaming agreement with Orange (the ability to take the Orange network) and open its service throughout France fast cash loans. Commercially, the teams are also in the starting blocks. Free Mobile has largely recruited and now grazes a thousand employees, including over 800 dedicated technical support. After two shops in Rouen and Troyes, a third scheduled to open within a few days in Angers.
Since the beginning of the week, investors in Europe and the United States, is won over by a wave of optimism about the outcome of the crisis of sovereign debt. The CAC 40 jumped 5.74% on Tuesday to finish the session at 3023.38 points, aligning a third straight session rebound. Another encouraging sign is the trading volumes are recovering. Yesterday more than 4 billion changed hands on the great values of the Paris stock exchange.
Other major European markets rose in unison. The Dax in Frankfurt Stock Exchange gained 5.29% and 4.02% London FTSE. And the European indices, the Eurostoxx 50 was up 5.06%. "The anguish of Greece, who were greatly exaggerated, have finally subsided a bit," said one operator.A Wall Street as investors watch with great attention the developments of the rise of public finances in Europe, the relief was also needed. Sitting in the Dow Jones advanced 2.27% and the Nasdaq 2.18%.
"Investors have decided to give credit to European and international policy makers in their efforts to find ways to resolve the crisis of sovereign debt," explained economists broker Aurel BGC. There are "high hopes that one is engaged in the right direction towards resolving the debt crisis in Europe," agreed analysts at LBBW in Frankfurt. Other analysts, however, want to caution, as the strategists of the Crédit Mutuel-CIC who believe that the upturn may not last and that the rumors that stir the markets are certainly still "exaggerated."For them, the hypothesis of the expansion means the European support fund for countries in trouble (EFSF), which propels the securities of banks for several days, "does not solve the structural problems in Europe."
According to the spokesperson of European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn, Europe is considering strengthening the capacity of the European support fund for countries in trouble (EFSF). Rumors press also reported a proposed quadrupling of the Fund's lending capacity to 2000 billion euros. In turn, an official of the ECB, the Austrian Ewald Nowotny, did not rule out declines in interest rates in the euro area.But soon, the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble assured that Europeans had "no intention of bailing out" the EFSF and called the hypothesis of totally "stupid."
Absent for several weeks, the good news poured in yesterday from Europe and the United States.
On the Old Continent, first. Jean-Claude Juncker, the leader of the finance ministers of the euro area has confirmed the return of the troika, bringing the European Union, the ECB and the IMF, major donors of Greece, by Thursday Athens, which could allow the release of a new tranche of EUR 8 billion, which is vital for the country. At the same time discontent rises and Athens was again paralyzed Tuesday by a wave of strikes in public transport.
Good news also in the United States, in the still under close surveillance of the property.House prices in the twenty largest U.S. cities have stabilized in July, according to Case-Shiller survey.
In Paris, banking stocks, on the front line since the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis, have literally flown the hope of a breakthrough in the situation in Greece.
Societe Generale, had a spectacular end of the session, jumping nearly 17%. For its part, BNP Paribas was awarded 14.15% and Credit Agricole was up 13.10%.
Oil opened up in New York
The euro was weakening on Tuesday to below $ 1.35. In session, the euro stood at 1.3496 dollars, against 1.3523 dollars late Monday.He had fallen in session Monday to 1.3363 dollars, its lowest level since mid-January, prior to recover.
As for commodities, gold has recovered slightly this morning at 1640 dollars an ounce after declining over the last three sessions. Oil evolved soaring Tuesday at the opening in New York, driven by renewed optimism for the determination of the Europeans to resolve the debt crisis in the eurozone. On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a barrel of "light sweet crude" for November delivery traded at 82.64 dollars, up by $ 2.40 at the close on Monday night.
The measures announced in mid-August by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are now entering into their implementation phase, wanted to highlight this weekend the Minister of Economy, Baroin, in an interview published in the Journal du Dimanche.
Franco-German work beginning to bear fruit. On the harmonization of corporate taxes first. Baroin said that the proposals on a plate and a single rate in France and Germany are on the table in 2012, for implementation in 2013. "In practice, we expect an early convergence of the supplementary budget in September," said the minister. Impossible, however, as to what are currently the preferred paths to achieve such convergence. If, for example, the corporate tax will fall in France, or if it will increase across the Rhine.
The tax on financial transactions discussed in G20
The terms of the tax on financial transactions announced on August 16 by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy also remain mysterious. "What is the basis used? Rate? Who receive income: the Commission, the States? We have not finalized the position on this issue ", said Minister of Economy, Baroin, in an interview published this morning in the Journal du Dimanche.
The German Minister of Economy Wolfgang Schäuble and his French counterpart have yet met last week, including to clarify the contours of the future tax, the timing is tighter. As originally announced by the Franco-German tandem, a first draft of the text should be proposed to the European Commission in the coming weeks."We are preparing a specific proposal that we send to the Committee in September," Baroin repeated the weekly.
Delicate negotiations
A timing that will allow the Commission to bring to the table a legislative proposal on the subject in early October, which will integrate the conclusions of the Franco-German couple. "It will be examined in the fall. We are determined to achieve results at the G20 3 and 4 November in Cannes, "said the minister. So much for the calendar. So far, the European Commission was considering the track instead of a 0.1% tax on transactions involving stocks or bonds, and 0.01% for those on products.
The adoption of such a tax at the European level is difficult, however, regardless of the arrangements envisaged.The unanimous agreement of the 27 states should indeed succeed the vote the proposal by the European Parliament. But Britain, which houses an important financial center, as well as Ireland or Luxembourg, are currently strongly opposed. Main question, the financial sector also protested against such a hypothesis, arguing the risks of travel to areas of the transactions tax warmer.
25% since January 1! The Swiss franc keeps on climbing against the euro. And the Swiss National Bank (SNB) seems powerless to reverse the trend. Since Aug. 3, the SNB intervened three times on foreign exchange markets to cool tensions. With a success all relative: the Swiss franc gained 3.92% versus the euro in two weeks. The Swiss franc remains "extremely overvalued," acknowledged Wednesday the SNB, after a massive injection of new cash.
For the economist Antoine Brunet, president of AB markets, the sudden popularity of the Swiss franc is a logical consequence of the crisis simultaneously by the two major reserve currencies such as the dollar and euro. In a context of European debt crisis and doubts about the U.S. economy, the Swiss currency has become a safe haven.Christian Ott, an economist at Natixis, the same refers to a study released Wednesday, as the "gold exchange market."
This assessment has multiple consequences for the Swiss economy which derives about half of its GDP to exports. Over half of these exports are made in the euro area, the strong exchange rate appreciation poses a serious threat to economic growth. "This is a great loss of competitiveness for Switzerland, which could suffer a downturn in its foreign trade," said Antoine Brunet guaranteed payday loans.
Index the value of the Swiss franc to the euro
The options available to the SNB is still limited. While prices fell 0.5% in the first half, "the central bank chose to fight the risks of deflation rather than to thwart the development of the housing bubble, which would have justified a higher interest rate" says Christian Ott.To resolve this dilemma, all monetary policy actions "unconventional" are possible. The Vice-President Philipp Hildebrand SNB even mentioned last week assumed to index the value of the Swiss franc to the euro. Put simply, "Switzerland could introduce a tax on capital inflows, as did Brazil," suggests Antoine Brunet. Or "a tax on deposits in Swiss francs of non-residents, as was already established in the 1970s."
For now, the government has opted to directly support the activity. He announced Wednesday a plan with a $ 2 billion Swiss francs. Export industries and those in the tourism sector will be the primary beneficiaries. A "task force" on the strong franc and its impact on the Swiss economy has also been established, the government said.
The three major rating agencies have Anglo-Saxon reassured after the deterioration of the U.S. debt rating by Standard & Poor's: France, with a AAA, will not follow the same path. At least in the coming months. An agency is an exception, the Chinese Dagong. It gives the country an AA-rating, while preventing it could soon lower it. Large agencies and small news, who's right?
Dagong is not severe with France. "She has a much more negative than Western agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, observes in a note to Patrick Artus, head of economic research at Natixis.Regarding the situation of public finances and potential growth, we can only give reason for Dagong against three major rating agencies. "
But the financial rating of a state that reflects the risk that it does not pay-or-bad debt, is not based solely on purely accounting. Moreover, France does not deserve an AA if only the statistics alone were taken into account by Standard & Poor's, according to calculations of Natixis.
Political risks
"The gap between Dagong and the three major agencies and explained in the apprehension of risk policy and governance," notes Juan Carlos Rodado, economist at Natixis, and author of a study on the methodology of rating agencies. An example: Venezuela has severely noted Standard & Poor's (BB-) by Dagong (BB +), because the former has less confidence in the Chavez government.Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's, unlike Dagong, also place a note on the weight of history. If a country has poorly paid its creditors in the past, such as Russia in 1998, the final verdict will be more severe. This factor discriminates against developing countries, and benefits the West.
At the heart of the statistical arguments, the Chinese agency promotes stronger economic growth and foreign exchange reserves, that is to say the cash generated by an entire economy thanks to exports. This way of clearly favors the emerging countries, major exporters (including China) and catching up economically.
The agency Dagong appears too severe, however, in general, said Jean-Christophe Caffet, an economist in charge of France, Natixis also: "She has placed virtually no major country in the AAA category, and those that are found are not debt markets rather narrow in which we can not really invest, such as Norway, Denmark, Luxembourg and New Zealand. "
Question of Independence
Also emit some doubts about the credibility of the agency Dagong. It has only twenty analysts to rate 67 countries, against 70 to 80 126 Standard & Poor's. In addition, its relationship with the Beijing government cast doubt on some Chinese economists, reports Le Monde. Finally, the same method as slides Juan Carlos Rodado, is not innocent: "When Dagong underestimated so the political risk, we understand the underlying interest."Namely encourage emerging countries close to China.
ALSO READ:
"In the back kitchen of rating agencies
»COMPUTER GRAPHICS – The world seen by the rating agencies
"INTERVIEW -" We must reform the rating market "
The McDonald's Happy Meal in the colors of the Smurfs on the Old Continent, the trendy water bar and the shop window Colette invaded by little blue men, a video game from Ubisoft for PlayStation, an iPhone application that exceeded 13 million downloads …
With the worldwide release of the film, the Smurfs are back in derivatives. A comeback orchestrated by IMPS, the company founded in 1984 by Belgian cartoonist Peyo's daughter, to manage the license. "We realized that the reputation of the Smurfs were huge but mainly used in Europe and often linked to the world of children, says William Auriol, managing director of IMPS, hired in 2009 for the film.We wanted to brand credibility on all age groups working on areas hitherto unusual for us. "
Hundreds of contracts have been established last year in 80 countries, the United States to Brazil via Malaysia and South Africa.In China, the Smurfs, who played the mascot for Expo Shanghai, allowed the Belgian pavilion to break records.
Candy, CDs, figurines …
Among these contracts, an advertising campaign on the environment in Spain of Volkswagen, the promotion of South Korea LG smartphones, dressing in South America credit card bank BBVA … "The film gives a very nice visibility to the license and can develop many partnerships, but the Smurfs have a life outside the film, "says Jerome Ollagnier, Brand Director at The Licensing Company, which manages the rights in France bad credit payday loans.
The 272 episodes of the cartoon aired non-stop for twenty years, have sat success. In fifteen years, sales of products reached $ 8 billion. 6 billion of Haribo sweets sold 40 million CDs, 500 million figurines, Kinder Surprise 50 million per year.Besides contracts with H & M, Zara and Sisley to attract the greatest. Only a third of sales of IMPS is made outside Europe. "The growth potential of the brand is huge, said William Auriol, who took the opportunity to increase its royalties. We are 15-20% of the way. "
The reasons for success? "These little blue, appeared in Spirou magazine in 1958, have become popular heroes beyond the comic, said Jerome Ollagnier. With a different name in each country (the Smurfs, i Puffi …), everyone can relate to men and women, children and adults. "
In France, large areas are still like the Smurfs characters dusty. This will not prevent the little blue men to settle in linear packs of sausages Knack or croque-monsieur Herta (Nestlé). Lint and Jemini dishes will also be sold in November."We have all the parameters for a commercial success," enthuses Thierry Bertoux, CEO of Jemini, who would see the Smurfs represent between 5% and 10% of its turnover in 2011.
ALSO READ:
"The Smurfs into a movie in 3D
